‘Hero’ Pilot the Only Fatality as Skydivers Jump Out of Crashing Plane in Illinois
- Posted on August 12, 2012 at 10:45am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Image source: Taylorville Breeze-Courier
The pilot of a skydiving plane was the sole fatality in a crash in central Illinois Saturday after the 12 passengers aboard jumped from the aircraft and parachuted to safety, the State Journal-Register reported.
Authorities said the pilot, 30-year-old Brandon Sparrow, saved the lives of residents on the ground by steering the plane to avoid hitting any houses when he crashed in Taylorville, Ill. around 11:30 a.m.
The twin-engine Beechcraft 18 landed in a backyard barely 75 feet wide, Mayor Greg Brotherton told the newspaper. The plane was destroyed in the crash.
“It was either an act of God, or the pilot himself put the plane down in the back yard,” Brotherton said. “We should be thankful because that plane could have hit a house and harmed others.”
Ashley Basso, a resident, told the Illinois Herald & Review the pilot dumped most of his fuel and narrowly missed the closely-spaced homes.
“That makes him a hero in my book,” Basso said.
The plane had taken off from the Taylorville airport earlier that morning, and the jump was part of a skydiving event hosted by the Mid-America Sport Parachute Club, according to the Journal-Register.
According to the Associated Press, one of the skydivers who escaped from the plane rushed to the crash site after landing and told police that others had parachuted out. Conflicting media reports placed the number of skydivers at both eight and 12.
Gloria Johnson told the AP she was taking groceries out of her car when the plane crashed in her neighbor’s yard, hitting a tree and raining debris over the area.
“[I] just heard this great big sound …” Johnson said. “It went boom and it just went down over there next door….There were plane parts everywhere, pieces all up and down Rich Street.”
The National Transportation Safety Board will handle the investigation into the cause of the crash.
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Tvillegal
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 11:27pmPeople really think that this plane was controllable and he deliberately would have chosen to go nose down into a tree! He did not steer away from any houses, it was in the nose down position from 12,000 feet until impact. You people do not know anything about what happened that day! Pilot error. Luckily 12 more people weren’t killed.
Report Post »AR does not stand for ASSAULT RIFLE
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 5:14pmI sued to fly skydivers, I had more close call flying those guys then I care to remember, Flying LearJet now and not looking back.
Report Post »AR does not stand for ASSAULT RIFLE
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 5:20pm“used”
Report Post »flyer469
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 1:18pmi have a couple of thousand hours flying beech 18,, I am unaware of the ability to dump fuel!
Report Post »TheLeftMadeMeRight
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 8:38am“by steering the plane”
you “steer” a car or truck
Report Post »you pilot a boat
and you fly or navigate an airplane…
Dudemau
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 9:48amBest to know what you are talking about before you go “correcting others”. “steer- to guide the course of (something in motion) by a rudder, helm, wheel, etc.: to steer a bicycle.” The pilot done good.
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 5:11amRight to Heaven. No question about it. Pray for his family. Not nearly enough like him.
Report Post »Virgil_Lance
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 1:14amMy prayers for the courageous pilot, Brandon Scott Sparrow.
Report Post »I looked up some specs on the plane:
Capacity: 6 passengers
Empty weight: 6,175 lb (2,800 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,500 lb (3,400 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 8,727 lb (3,959 kg)
8,727 lb – 7,500 lb = 1,227 lbs of cargo
Could the plane have been overloaded?
AR does not stand for ASSAULT RIFLE
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 5:20pmThat is Basic Empty Weight with seats, etc. in it, Jump planes are stripped to only the basic essentials to bring down the Basic Weight and raise payload capabilities.
Good Job Brandon.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 13, 2012 at 12:17amWow……he was incredible, very cool, and I see him in a very comforting place wrapped in the arms of our creator ………thank you for being such an Honorable and Giving Young Man….God Bless you !
Report Post »liberalsarealiens
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 6:09pmAltimeter
Report Post »liberalsarealiens
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 5:58pmFirst I would like to say a prayer for the pilot. He probably did make moves to keep from hitting any structures. These jump pilots takeoff fully loaded with jumpers all day long for little pay. There is little room for mistakes from any pilot with a loaded aircraft until he climbs to about 1500ft AGL. Then there is enough altitude for the jumpers to get out and lighten the weight of the aircraft. I am always nervous until I see my altemiter reach this alt.
Report Post »Being a jumper and a retired pilot I have to say this about the Beech 18. You cannot DUMP fuel from this aircraft! Sometimes a little knowledge is worse than no knowledge.
My prayers and heart goes out to the famil, jumpers and dropzone for the loss.
TheBurningTruth
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 6:15pmYup, totally agree. I have hundreds of jumps out of D18, E18 and H18s. Sure would be interested in knowing when the situation got out of hand (at exit altitude or climbout?) and what actually happened. I recall many a load where the last couple aboard squeezed up to lean as far forward as possible (actually into the cockpit) to improve CG. We headed back when we got to 1,000 ft. Even stalled a Skyvan at altitude by door-jamming a 20way back in ‘84 before we “learned” about CG.
I remember Thailand‘99 where we learned that the CG of 100 jumpers can move aft faster than the C130’s trim motors could adjust for it! They had to strap 2 tons of rice bags (cheap ballast!) at the forward bulkhead and tell us to slow down the exit!
Report Post »psychosocial1
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 4:35pmI would like to say something about the actions of this pilot, but first I will qualify my comments. I work in Taylorville. I’m very familiar with the town and this neighborhood in particular. I saw this plane that Saturday morning several times circling overhead. I heard the motors in the seconds before the accident. I have friends that actually saw the plane go down. This pilot was a hero. The neighborhood this plane crashed in is an older neighborhood. Smaller homes somewhat close to one another. The roads are barely wide enough to get two cars down. Not only did the jumpers get out the pilot managed to miss the homes and even power lines. I’m sure that if he would have survived the accident he would have humbly stated that he was simply doing what he was trained to do. Ultimately he gave his own life to save countless others. If any of his family or friends see this post understand that his selfless actions will be remembered.
Report Post »hayesstephen
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 9:37pmThank you, you said it all. May Yaweh grant this brave man Paradise.
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 1:55pmMay this young man rest in peace.
Report Post »dfissell
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 12:15pmObama were is the call to this guys family he was a true hero he put others before his self to bad you cant do the same
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 4:38pmAWESOME statement. I agree but we both know its not happening.
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 4:42pmI think we all agree this man was a hero. So where is POTUS, where is the offer to put flags at 1/2 mast? Were is our golfer in chief? Oh, I forgot, this pilot did not do that. Snide remarks off, my best to his family and friends. Cheers to him for keeping others safe and not thinking of himself.
Report Post »Dirty Harry
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 12:08pmBeech 18′s cannot “dump fuel.”
Report Post »aggiebrewer
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 12:10pmmaybe so maybe not so. depends on if they equipped that particular ac with p&d valve.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 1:41pmI love it when people can pick out the important part of a story
Report Post »kindling
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 3:09pmMaybe that was the boom that people heard and the plane started to dump fuel. Something disabled it, I sure hope it wasn’t because someone on the ground did something, and he didn’t have very much time to do anything but not take anymore lives than possible. He is a hero and may he rest in peace.
Report Post »2AM
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 12:00pmI love skydiving. I feel safer jumping out than landing with a plane! I have never seen a pilot with a parachute, but the dropzone I jumped from required anyone going up with the jumpers to have a chute on in case of an emergency. For example, I went up to photograph jumpers as they exited once and they put a chute on me, although I was not jumping. The pilots stay with the craft. The planes run all day dropping groups and then picking up the next group while the previous repack their chutes. This goes on all day when weather permits. The fact that there are so few accidents speaks to the skill of pilots, jumpers, jump masters and the mechanics that maintain the planes all over the country.
Report Post »aggiebrewer
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 11:47amthat IS heroic. We use hero way too much these days. This guy meets the test.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 11:37amRIP God be with his friends and family in this time of grievance. God Rest His Soul. It is hard to put a plane in a backyard especially if they aren’t very big.
Report Post »the big o
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 11:11amA true hero. Sacrificing his life to save innocent residents is the way things used to be in this country. It is unfortunate that people are frquently no longer like him. God bless him for his unselfish act.
Report Post »RANGER1965
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 11:01amThe act of a man of honor.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Report Post »JOHN 13:15
Sirfoldallot
Posted on August 12, 2012 at 10:53amGod bless him, we need more like him.
Report Post »